“The man who drove you here the day you weresupposed to meet Aiden. The man you embraced when he brought youhere.”
Maggie froze as fury burned away her sorrow.“Have you been spying on me?”
“Aiden came here that day; he saw you with aman.”
“Did he now?” she murmured, her voicedeceptively calm considering she wanted to stab something. “Let meguess; he jumped to conclusions instead of talking tomeabout it.”
“He hasn’t exactly been in the mood totalk.”
“What a coincidence, neither am I. It’s timefor you to leave.”
“If he’d approached you that day, he wouldhave killed the man.”
“I’m allowed to have friends,” Maggie hissedfrom between her teeth.
“So the man was only a friend?”
“It’s none of your goddamn business who heis!”
“But it is.”
“And why is that?”
“Because my brother’s life is on theline.”
Her antagonism deflated faster than a poppedballoon. “Aiden’s life?” she breathed.
“Yes.”
“Why? What are you talking about?”
“When you didn’t make it to the hotel ontime, and Aiden saw you with that man, he assumed you made yourchoice. He believes that man is who you want to be with and he…well, he snapped. If Brian, Declan, and Killean hadn’t been thereto take him down, there’s no telling what he might have done.”
Hundreds of imaginary spiders crept over herskin as a hollow pit opened in her belly. “Pablo is my boss, andhe’s my friend. Aiden should have come to me himself. I would haveexplained what happened.”
“He couldn’t come to you, not then, and notnow.”
Those spiders were now tap dancing along herspine. “What’s happened to him?”
“Vicky revealed to me that Aiden never toldyou a vampire can’t live without their mate, that they either killthemselves or go insane.”
“They what?” she breathed, suddenly needingto sit but unable to find the strength to cross over to the tableand pull out a chair.
Ethan walked forward to rest his hands onthe counter as he studied her with a look that bordered onpleading. “A vampire without their mate is a broken shell. Theycan’t survive without the other.”
“I see,” she murmured.
“Aiden wanted you to make your decisionabout joining him without the additional pressure of thatknowledge. However,Iam telling you because I’m trying tosave my brother, if it isn’t too late, and if you’re willing tohelp him.”
“Tell me what is going on.”
“When a vampire encounters their mate, theyfeel instantly drawn to them. They can maintain control better ifthe relationship doesn’t progress too far into the bonding, butfrom what I understand, your relationship progressed prettyfar.”
Maggie held his gaze as he revealed hisknowledge of intimate details aboutherlife. “He said I hadto become a vampire to complete the bond.”
“True, but the sharing of blood and sexescalates a vampire’s need to forge the bond.”
“Another thing he didn’t tell me.”
